Chase Cooper’s decision to arrive in Mexico early to practise with top female Optimist sailor Odile Van Aanholt paid huge dividends for the Bermudian sailor at last week’s IODA North American Championships.The promising sailor produced Bermuda’s best showing at the IODA North American Championships in three years after placing a remarkable tenth out of a field of 149.“I think my early arrival and practice sailing with Odile really helped,” Cooper said. “My coaches Martin Jenkins and Pablo Weber also were really helpful in getting me up to speed in Mexico and keeping me there.“When I arrived in Mexico I found the conditions really challenging and I was having a hard time adapting to my new sail.”Consistency in light and shifty conditions proved to be the key to Cooper’s solid showing which was underlined by five top ten finishes in 11 races sailed on the man made Ville de Bravo lake located near Mexico City.“Chase was absolutely brilliant,” said Royal Bermuda Yacht Club sailing coach Paul Doughty. “He is beginning to mature as a racing sailor and is holding his own.”Doughty attributed Cooper’s good form to a hard work ethic and dedication to training.“He’s been training hard and applied himself in order to get that result which I think is fantastic,” he said.Cooper’s showing was the Island’s best since Owen Seise’s fifth place finish at the 2009 IODA North American Championships.Jesse Kirkland, Sean Bouchard and Elijah Simmons are the only local sailors to date to have won the championships.Cooper, 14, was Bermuda’s sole representative at this year’s championships.Cooper’s training partner Van Aanholt (Netherland Antilles) won the regatta by a single point over Singapore’s Samuel Neo Jiun Jie with USA’s Sean Brennan rounding off the podium finishers.Bermuda will host next year’s championships where Doughty believes the Island’s Optimist sailors will be a reckoning force.“We have the North Americans coming here next year and I think Chase’s fantastic result in Mexico will help boost local Optimist sailing,” Doughty said.“We have been steadily training and working towards rebuilding a team because we’ve had age outs and unevenness in age groups. But now we are beginning to fill in the gaps and I think we are definitely on the right road to be being a reckoning force.”Cooper received the traditional ‘handover’ of the IODA flag from Team Mexico during the prize ceremony.The teenage sailor arrived in Mexico fresh off a solid showing at the 2012 Renaissance Re Junior Gold Cup where he placed seventh overall and topped the local fleet to earn the new Dick Kempe Trophy, honouring the memory of the late Royal Bermuda Yacht Club commodore and well-respected international juror.The 2012 International One Design (IOD) World Championships will commence today in the Great Sound.The nine-race series was due to start on Sunday but was postponed because of inclement weather.Carrying Bermuda’s hopes this year is six-time IOD world champion Penny Simmons.